Jeremiah 41:10

10 Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king's daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.

Jeremiah 41:10 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 41:10

Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the
people that [were] in Mizpah
All that were not slain by him, that remained after the slaughter he had made, chiefly the unarmed people; they being men of war who fell by his sword: [even] the king's daughters;
whether they were the daughters of Zedekiah, Jehoiakim, or Jehoiakim, says Kimchi, we know not; but it is most likely that they were the daughters of Zedekiah the last king, and who was just taken and carried captive; and so Josephus F14 expressly calls them; these the king of Babylon regarded not, because they could neither fight, nor claim the kingdom; only the sons of the king, whom he slew before his eyes; though it may be these were not his daughters by his lawful wife, but by his concubines, and so were not properly of the royal family, and less regarded: and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the
captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam;
that were not slain, or carried captive by the Chaldeans; but were left at Mizpah, under the care and government of Gedaliah: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive:
so that those who escaped one captivity fell into another, and even by the hand of one of their own countrymen: and departed to go over to the Ammonites;
he went from Mizpah with these captives, in order to carry them to the king of Ammon, and make them his slaves; who had put him upon this enterprise out of hatred to the Jews, and to enrich himself with their spoils. Some render it, "to go over with the Ammonites" F15; which they suppose the ten men to be that came along with him and the princes, to commit the barbarities they did.


FOOTNOTES:

F14 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 4.)
F15 (Nwma ynb la) "cum filiis Ammon", Schmidt.

Jeremiah 41:10 In-Context

8 But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, "Do not kill us, for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields." So he refrained, and did not kill them along with their companions.
9 Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck down was the large cistern that King Asa had made for defense against King Baasha of Israel; Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled that cistern with those whom he had killed.
10 Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king's daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.
11 But when Johanan son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him heard of all the crimes that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had done,
12 they took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They came upon him at the great pool that is in Gibeon.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.